


Goodnight

by Ribes



Category: Humans (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Missing Scene, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-03
Updated: 2015-08-03
Packaged: 2018-04-12 14:46:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4483388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ribes/pseuds/Ribes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>She just listens, her back leaned to the wall, swallowing. The sound of his bare feet on the tiles, as if he were a child splashing around in a fountain, makes her smile. It sounds like he hasn’t been in a bathroom in a very long time, so every move he makes is clumsy. After a minute or two, he lets something fall, probably the toothbrush. But he doesn’t curse – he just sighs. He has been through so much trouble he doesn’t definitely mind if a toothbrush falls or if it does not. </i><br/>Quiet moments in house Hawkins between Leo and Mattie, just before going to bed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Goodnight

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This is the first time I write something in the Humans fandom. It's just something I wanted to do after the season finale. :) Also, I'm not entirely sure they actually went to sleep after eating, I didn't re-watch the episode. In case they didn't, just take it as a possible what if. ^^

 

 

“ _Just… pay attention to the floor. It’s still wet. Mum washed it before you came and… well_.”  
She closes the door, a half breath held in her throat, the thin creak of the hinge growing weaker and weaker. He does not reply, but she hears the sound of the zip and lowers her eyes, not daring to say anything more. She should probably leave – staying there, outside the bathroom, it’s just invading his privacy, and if he knew he would probably… well, she doesn’t know he would do. But being there makes her feel uncomfortable, awkward.  
And yet she doesn’t manage to leave.  
She just listens, her back leaned to the wall, swallowing. The sound of his bare feet on the tiles, as if he were a child splashing around in a fountain, makes her smile. It sounds like he hasn’t been in a bathroom in a very long time, so every move he makes is clumsy. After a minute or two, he lets something fall, probably the toothbrush. But he doesn’t curse – he just sighs. He has been through so much trouble he doesn’t definitely mind if a toothbrush falls or if it does not.  
He’s so quiet, in anything he does. When they were eating, an hour before, he just chewed his salad, looking around, watching the people, listening to every word. Every time he wants to say something, he thinks a lot before actually doing it, and when he does, he probably says half of what he really means. She has noticed that. He’s scared of people. He’s scared of _humans_. And, if what she has realized is true, scared of her.  
She suddenly hears the pounding of the water, and the sound of his feet touching the bottom of the bathtub, and stops thinking. She just holds her knees, closes her eyes, and hopes nobody notices her. Not her dad, or her mum. Not Toby, or Sophie. Not any of the synths.  
But somewhere, in a hidden and remote place of her mind, she hopes that the grumpy, quiet, lonely guy having a shower in her bathroom notices her. In which way, she doesn’t know yet.  
 

 

   
_“Any news about Max?”_  
It’s the first thing he says when he sees her, stepping outside the bathroom. He wears an oversized jumper and some pajama pants Joe has loaned him, but they are too big for him, and he looks like a child. She notices how much skinny he is, and manages to smile. He seems so weak, right now.  
“ _He’s still in charge_.” There are no news and he knows – he’s just so worried about his family he cannot think about anything else.  
It seems like they have nothing more to talk about, so they’ll probably say goodnight to each other and leave. She’ll go in her room and try to sleep, but surely won’t get to, so she’ll read some posts in her forum and watch some videos on YouTube. He’ll instead reach the living room, where he’ll be with his family, smiling and listening and being happy and safe. She cannot promise him neither happiness nor safety, so she’d better shut up.  
_“Do you want to do something?”_ she says instead, hesitating. And, before he answers, she adds: _“I mean, like a videogame. Or a movie. We have a foosball table, down in the basement. There’s some dust, but I can clean it if you want.”_  
She regrets her offer in the moment she closes her mouth. He surely wants to spend his time with Mia, Niska and Fred, not with a stupid teenage girl with an obsession for html codes. She is about to correct herself and tell him she has changed her mind, when he makes a weird smirk – a smile? – and nods.  
“ _I haven’t seen a movie in a very long time. Actually, I’ve lost all my contacts with that guy with a lightning scar and a ginger friend. Did he defeat the man who killed his parents, at the end?_ ”  
She smiles and, somewhere inside her body, the blood seems warmer, the heart faster, and it’s like she is a machine with all her gearwheels broken, screeching and creaking. She has never felt like this – it’s a new thing. And she loves new things.  
“ _I think it’s time for you to know_ ” she only replies, stepping towards the living room.  
 

 

 

“ _Harry Potter is dead.”_  
Voldemort’s pleased voice echoes in the living room, maybe louder than she’s allowed to set it to. She leans towards the DVD player, coursing her fingers on the volume’s cogwheel, not sure if turn it down or not. She turns around, watching the room around her, and all the synths in charge: they seem all so unreal and fake, now that they are sleeping. Just like dolls.  
But he doesn’t. He has fallen asleep half an hour before, during the battle, stressed because of what he has seen and felt this day, and she forgives him. Curled up on the sofa, with his head sloping down and his arms around his knees, he looks so much like a child. Defenseless, and vulnerable.  
Looking at him, she feels the unexplainable wish to hold him tight.  
She shakes her head, with a sad smile. That’s stupid. He is an adult, and he probably doesn’t even care about who she is or what she does. It’s not so difficult for her to foresee the future: after Max gets charged, he’ll leave, and she won’t ever see him again. She will delete his number, and at some point probably get together with Harun, who keeps calling her phone and sending her sms, even though she doesn’t even answer.  
She sighs and presses the red button on the TV remote control, switching the movie off. She doesn’t feel like watching the end right now, not while everyone else is asleep and she feels so alone, which happens more often than she would admit. She stares at the screen, her lips pressed and her eyes empty, careless.  
She knows she won’t fall asleep, not tonight, but manages in some way to get up and step towards the door. But when she places her hand on the handle, ready to leave the living room, a sleepy voice stops her.  
“ _Goodnight, Mattie_.”  
She turns and smiles at him – a little smile, her lips curving, her eyes shining: nothing more and nothing less. He smiles back, before closing his eyes again.  
She nods, and opens the door.  
“ _Goodnight, Leo._ ” 


End file.
